Paper: Worlds colliding: Participatory
storytelling and indigenous culture in building interactive games

Abstract

The SimPā
project aims to convey and strengthen research aspects in regard to Māori
culture, tikaka and knowledge using innovative and cutting edge technology.
In short, the project aims to provide a means of telling whānau, hapū and
Iwi Māori stories in 3D game format. This paper reviews the first stage
of the project. The paper discusses learnings from the first stage of the
project the creation of the “SimPā toolkit” to enable participatory
development (he kohinga o nga mea rauemi). This includes communication and
negotiation processes, technical choices and issues surrounding the recreation
of narrative histories.

Personal
Context

Khyla Russell:

I am Kai
Tahu, raised in the traditional ways of gathering kai (food) and knowledge, of
tikaka (correctness in all areas of life and living in the Māori
world), and other forms of knowing. The mihi I recite in the presentation of
this paper identifies, reinforces, and communicates my identity and position in
my tribal, historical, natural, and cosmic world. My tāmoko or facial
tattoo further identifies and communicates my personal locus in the Māori world.
In a fundamental way, the tools used to create my mokq represent one
relationship between a Māori view of technology and the role of
personal/cultural identity within my Māori culture.

In addition, as a
trained anthropologist and teacher, I have an identity and position in academia.
This position allows me to understand my Māori identity from the academic
perspective. This “other” identity is also the product of technology–technology
which has allowed me to create not only an additional, complementary identity,
but produce the specific outputs required in an academic position. Thus, I
understand the uses of technologies as they affect and are affected by the
world views from both the Western “professional” perspective and from the Māori
“personal/tribal/historical” perspective. In so doing, I am participating in the
fusion of colliding cultures. Regarding the Information Technology expressions
and their worthiness, I defer to others' views in this presentation–yet another
“fusion of cultures” in actual practice.

In my teaching role last semester, I marked a paper which
impressed me with its regular allusions to a complementary, as opposed to a
competitive, model between Māori and Western world views. This showed me
that what is needed is far more widely practiced diversity of thinking within
all areas of research, and cross-cultural fertilization and understanding. Thus,
we chose my title as a co-presenter of this paper as i te mohiotaka o te
kaituhituhi nei, (according to the understanding of this writer.)

Samuel Mann:

The SimPā project, which we will share with you
today, aims to convey and strengthen research aspects in regard to Māori
culture, tikaka (culture) and knowledge using innovative, cutting edge
technology. In short, the project aims to provide a means of telling
whānau (family), hapū (sub-tribe) and Iwi (major tribe) Māori
stories in 3D game format. This paper reviews the first stage of the project.

The project recognises that certain aspects of Iwi or tribal Māori
culture for non-Māori New Zealanders are a vital part of what
distinguishes New Zealand from the rest of the world. This is true for Iwi
(tribal) Māori members who are unable to access this through whānau
(family) and hapū (sub-tribe) connections as well. It is intended that the
project will assist in the creation of 3D game-based Iwi Māori digital
content so that distinctly Iwi Māori voices and cultural content can be
encouraged and promoted.

This development has benefits in terms of both technology and cultural
awareness and the fusion of these two: Iwi digital content. The project will
achieve this through active engagement and participation with Iwi through
Runaka (local tribal council) engagement and member participation to build the
games.

The paper discusses learnings from the first stage of the project. The
creation of the “SimPā toolkit” will enable participatory development (he
kohinga o ngā mea rauemi), including communication and negotiation
processes, technical choices and issues surrounding the recreation of narrative
histories. It will also discuss the theory and objectives which define this
project.

The focus of my research which informs the SimPā project derives
from augmented experiences, especially visual representation of knowledge
spaces and the interaction of technology and art/narrative in exhibits.
Recently, I have been examining developments that fall outside traditional
development processes with the intention of identifying emergent themes that we
can generalise back to the wider computing sphere. My research in creating
technology-based exhibits, or as Walker (2001) puts it: “in trying to hide the
computers while making exhibits come to life” puts the interaction of art and
computing at the forefront of both cultures. My recent exhibit based works
include “Pengy,” a collaborative inquiry based robotic agent development with a
group of young scientists; “Timed Lapse” a long running collaboration with
photographer Lloyd Godman; “Fish n'clicks” an augmented exhibit that provides a
cross over between virtual and real life; and “Metamorphamatic” a large scale tropical
habitat development. These developments have in common an interactive basis.
All are driven by computing that is non-trivial. In their finished form, none
involve a traditional screen-keyboard-mouse arrangement. We find a different
role for functional requirements, differing measures of success, a complex role
of interactivity that is closely intertwined with narrative and educational
parameters. Perhaps the most important aspect is that of reality, not in terms
of virtual reality but in terms of the integration of real and not real in the
forms of interface, story and engine.

This development is more complex than a miniaturization of the
technology; such a development is a perhaps indicative of a paradigm shift, as
Weiser argued, the goal of “we are trying to conceive a new way of thinking
about computers in the world, one that takes into account the natural human
environment and allows the computers themselves to vanish into the background.”
The search for precedents for this shift, and the attempt to identify
implications of it, led to the current work.

Traditional
Knowledge

When one uses the language of another, respect requires
that that person to fully understand its use, even when fluency is not a
requirement. Honouring the people and the language which they speak means
knowing in terms of Te Reo Māori (Māori language). This, too, has a tikaka which is based upon the tikaka and kawa (the protocol that underlies the behaviour) of
the people whose language it is.

In Māori culture, knowledge was passed down orally.
For many this continues to be how our special knowledges and knowledge
systems are transmitted. Further, orality forms and informs the ways of
knowing derived from our whānau (family), hapū (sub-tribe) and
iwi (tribe). Small wonder, then, that as we engage with our predominately
literacy-based Tauiwi (“Other”
or non-Māori) colleagues, we encounter collisions and counter points
of view. What this paper attempts to do, then, is to assist those here
to understand how we two and others involved in our project have had to
learn to connect, to co-operate and to complement our differing languages
and world views.

As we collide in our efforts to produce new ways of and
means to engage with a cultures other than our own, we do so with respect for both
their knowledge and our own in an effort to engage in a new learning. The aim
of this connection is to cooperate in the creation of a blending of traditional
Kai Tahu knowledge with modern technology and information systems which will complement
these traditional knowledge systems. Our hope is that this co-operative way of
engaging will produce a new pathway to learning that enhances, but never
replaces, the traditional ways of learning. Rather, it will add a further depth
to the whakapapa (evolution) of knowledge and
create a richer and differently informed means of engaging in learning.

In times past, archaeology was the medium through which Western
knowledge systems informed themselves about how countless millions of indigenous
peoples lived and engaged socially as communities to ensure we survived. Though
traditional archaeological methods continue to be practiced, more attention is
being given to what we indigenous peoples know, with our stories, especially, gaining
credibility within Western paradigms. As a consequence our her/histories are
not confined solely to the realm of myth. The study of oral histories has
become an acceptable means of research, and these histories often complement
written ones whether through drawings, hieroglyphics, or written language as
the tool for interpreting the how, what, where and when of a cultural Other.
This project upon which Otago Polytechnic and Arai-Te–Uru Rūnaka
(local tribal councils) engaged did so through Sam and me as the initial points
of contact. Together, we took his idea to others for consideration and
dissemination as a discussion point with possibilities.

It is this aspect of tradition and knowledge, its
associated tikaka and kawa, and its way of being acquired as a consequence of
these discussions that I wish to speak to. Sam, with his extensive
understanding in Western academe and information technology expertise will
address this way of knowledge acquisition. Perhaps what we are truly
researching and producing is the access to information for others who may wish
to successfully engage or who have successfully engaged with their national
indigenous peoples. This project with which Otago Polytechnic and Arai-Te–Uru
Rūnaka (local tribal councils) engaged did so through Sam and me as
the initial points of contact. We took his idea to others for consideration and
dissemination as a discussion point with possibilities.

Often what one partner
in such cultural cooperative attempts feels is adequate and correct procedure
may be for the other so far different as to have fatal cross-cultural relationship
collision as the endpoint. What we are working hard to ensure is that rather
than have cross cultural collision as the end point, we will create a process
through creating a “how to” process for establishing such partnering . In this
instance, the process for engaging came about as a possibility when we two were
discussing how we might better engage those of our Iwi Māori who were not
being appropriately engaged with in the existing education system in Aotearoa
me Te Waipounamu (New Zealand's South Island).

To place this within a
context, we first must understand that the compulsory educational achievements
statistics for Māori, Pacific Islanders and low socio-economic Tauiwi
(non-Māori/Pasifika citizens), are appalling. In my belief, this is
unacceptable, and the Crown needs to accept full responsibility for its failure
to engage through our education system those most in need. This is not only a
matter of it being a basic human right, it is also an equity issue that,
despite research results, the nation does not address. It continues to use the
deficit theory as its model where the fault lies with the learner rather than
those charged with engaging young people in compulsory education with learning.

One way in which young
people throughout the world seem to be engaged is with electronic gaming using
virtual realities with multitudinous scenarios and types of games. Thus, when
we were first working on possibilities that we might address these shortfalls,
Sam came up with a suggestion that we could create a virtual world which could engage
the interest of our young people and, at the same time, have our elders as
participants and contributors. He believed that, with the wealth and depth of
all forms of historical knowledge and practices that the elders held, they
could share stories which the young, with training, could re-create in a
virtual world and reality. From that virtual reality, the young could go on to
create E-games or virtual places and landscapes of our current times and times
past, based on historical knowledge.

Such creations have a
multiple benefits across ages and knowledge systems. As the more adept the
young practitioners became in the information systems of both old and modern
learning, the more robust the real possibilities for creativity and education.
The widest possible benefits from this were, and continue to be, the creation
of a means of access to traditional learning and knowledge acquisition by those
of our Iwi who live off shore, using Information technology as the tool and
medium for engaging people. For example, I have a mokopuna (grandchild) who
lives in Japan. Because we do not see her regularly in person, this way of
engaging her can be done in the first instance through her father. As she
matures, she will have direct access to the knowledge.

What were the procedures
to bring these idea to reality? My engagement, along with that of others, with
our Rūnaka was one process that took time, infinite meetings and
small hui (gatherings to discuss matters of interest) in order to seek support
for this. Whilst this remains ongoing and I do regular updates, there were some
who saw it as fraught; one particular participant raised issues on whose
stories might be collected and how could we trust that these were accurate. How
do we address this issue? One way is to acknowledge it as simple reality and
work with it.

For example, in my tribe, Kai
Tahu, we have a whakataukī (saying) which is “Ehara te take tahi he take
tini ke.” This means that there is never a single truth but many. This approach
would allow the inclusion of many versions of the same story. Another approach
is self-selection for the story-tellers. That is, no one need participate who
does not wish to. This would even allow people to be part of the hui
(information sharing session) where the stories were being shared but need not
offer any of their own. Further, where stories particular to specific whānau
(families) were theirs alone, a means of safeguarding those stories would be
adhered to. Thus, at the product's completion, the whānau (family) whose
story had been re-created in a new medium, could view it, have it turned into a
game or educational asset, or even restrict access to their whānau alone.

As an Iwi, Kai Tahu have a memorandum of
understanding with our national Ministry of Education visibly operated through
the production of a resource tool kit for use in schools called Te Kete o
Aoraki. This kit not only assists schools to
engage their Māori learners, but provides clear guidelines on how to
engage with their whānau (families). The SimPā project will provide additional
opportunities to educate children in schools using more generic stories already
in the public arena. Since one of the staff now engaged in this research
project was previously a facilitator for the Learning and Education Outside the
Classroom (LEOTC) project, her ideas and abilities through experiencing the
LEOTC programme will provide insight from her professional experience as well
as her experience through having already long established engagement through
the prior project, with Rūnaka.

Another issue to arise was that of
intellectual property: who owned or would own what at the completion of any creation
from the stories shared? Thus, we thus began the process of deciding how that
might, could and should be worked out; a sub-agreement with a Rūnaka member company has addressed this concern. This sub-agreement
has had further uses in that our institution has sought to have a firm
definition of Indigenous Intellectual property rights. We were able to achieve
this through my direct engagement with the Kai Tahu Māori Law
Centre, as well as with the Iwi Corporate Legal Services arm. Now written and
accepted by the Research manager and Chief Executive officer, that policy will
sit alongside the Otago Polytechnic Intellectual Property Policy.

The
SimPā Project

The project aims to convey
and strengthen Māori culture, tikaka and knowledge by initiating a
process of participatory Māori digital media design using 3D game
technology. A key component of the project is a series of marae-based
wānaka. Each wānaka be kaupapa Māori and
participants will be immersed in tikaka Māori. Participants will
learn about the traditions, environment, people and history of that place from
local Rūnaka elders who are experts in Māori oral history and
local knowledge. Using the “SimPā Toolkit”, participants work alongside
the Rūnaka members and supervisors to create a “GamePā” (a
virtual environment representing a place). Based on the knowledge of Rūnaka
members, participants will define the landscape, environment, and features of
cultural significance, such as food gathering sites.

Note: Pā refers to a
stronghold, SimPā is shorthand for the whole project, GamePā refers
to the developed game for each individual Rūnaka.

Figure 1: Overview of the SimPā process

The theoretical basis for
the approach to the model derives from the combination of game and tikaka: iwi
digital practice. Our belief is that this combination will excite and engage,
while providing a vehicle for conveying hapu knowledge. This is an integrative
initiative that pulls together research findings from a wide range of contexts.
Accordingly, there is a primary question for each component of the project: will
it work for improving engagement with indigenous knowledge? There are
many sub-questions: pedagogical, cultural, technical and practical to support
this primary question. Answering these questions will derive from the SimPā
process and the development of highly valued set of resources.

First, the mechanical:
will it work technically? In phase 1 of this development, the partners have
developed a tested a prototype GamePā. This is an immersive 3D landscape
for one site with limited interactivity. This has been applied in a single
workshop and for much consultation. In formal evaluation for the funding
agency, the technology has surpassed expectations. The hardware for the mobile
studio has also been tested in this way. For example, at one Marae, the
prototype GamePā was played via a network of 4 wireless laptops.

Figure 2: Huriawa Pā
(Karitane Peninsula) developed in first series of wānaka sessions.

Second is the worth of the
approach: will the participatory game design meet the needs of engagement in
both ICT and things Māori? The questions that arise stem not just from
each area of specialty, but also from the combination. It is not known, for
example, how well Māori stories will translate to a game based digital
learning format, whether workshop approach of having both young and older
people creating a model together will work and so on.

While there are few
studies that directly match this project, there is a wealth of prior knowledge
in related areas. Some of these include:

The overall objectives of
this project can be summarized as follows: first, SimPā develops and tests
a method for creating and using virtual environments to enhance learning of
Māori narratives in the Kai Tahu and wider Māori community.
Second, SimPā allows users to interact with histories and stories of local
Kai Tahu places in a virtual environment. In 2006/7 the project worked with
four Rūnaka, and in 2008 we will expand to work with the remaining
fifteen Kai Tahu Rūnaka before launching nationally. These two primary
objectives breakdown into the following specific objectives:

Objective 1: The
development and testing of a participatory approach to game development.
This will bring together people from within the Papatipu Rūnaka who will
jointly learn about their own place and stories, and convert this knowledge to
digital form.

Objective 3: Develop and
test tools for the use of games in teaching Māori concepts. This
encompasses specific research on the effectiveness of digital game based
learning in a Māori context.

Objective 4: Develop
techniques and practices for the use of GamePā

The resulting games
provide an interactive learning environment for use within each Papatipu
Rūnaka. It is expected that this will enhance their mātauraka
Māori, enable individuals to connect and have respect for their landscape
and historical stories. Each game will be the intellectual property of
each Papatipu Rūnaka and provide an indigenous tool for future development
in education and Māori business. We believe that this integrated model
– using a resource that is interactive, online and multiplayer – will provide
measurable benefits for individuals, whānau, hapū and Iwi.

Objective 5: Develop a new
specialist area in education: Māori digital content. We are developing
a programme aimed at capacity building within indigenous people. By combining
cultural knowledge with skills required for developing digital game based
learning resources, we hope to initiate a pathway to encourage careers
in this area. This will provide career opportunities in education, information
technology and business.

Objective 6. Develop a
process of adoption of this initiative beyond the collaborating partners. This
collaboration is not just between a single group of stakeholders, but involves
complex structures of knowledge ownership. An important part of this initiative
is the development of processes maintaining the integrity of specialist
knowledge and tikanga.

This project provides a
means to capture local content in a way that is engaging and exciting. Content
created gains the benefits of digital medium: distribution, reproduction,
storage, etc. Narratives (histories, stories) are told in a new and engaging
form. Tangibly, SimPā offers the fusion between the old and the new
forms of knowledge, a new tool for education, and an increase in Māori
digital specialists. Intangibly, the value for money is potentially greater
with the community interacting with their own history, the interaction of
generations and further knowledge base of local stories and narratives.

This development will have
benefits in terms of both technology and culture and the fusion of these two:
Iwi digital content. It is important to remember that the GamePā are the
product of the Rūnaka. At the project's completion, Otago
Polytechnic will formerly pass to Rūnaka, their GamePā, thus the
partnership will have recreated old sites into new virtual realities. The
project will achieve this through active engagement and participation. The
Rūnaka recognise that the time and money involved is an investment
in their own stories.

The project hinges on the
participatory nature of the developments. Rūnaka members support
game creation process as experts sharing knowledge: telling stories &
history and passing on specific cultural practices. Each Rūnaka is
giving time to the project from planning through to implementation. The wider
marae communities are offering support in terms of organising and supporting
the marae wanaka sessions etc. The cost of the sessions is being offset by
help with wanaka (food and preparation, board, koha).

The SimPā project can
be seen to have benefits in several directions, as expressed by the
“confidence, content and connection” of the digital strategy. This project
will result in significant community benefit. There will be value to the
target communities in terms of knowledge they gain, in particular, the increased
confidence in the use of ICT to tell their stories.

Finally, SimPā uses a
unique approach to ICT. On the marae–the traditional meeting house for
Māori–it
will provide experience of ICT in a familiar environment during wānaka
(workshop learning) sessions. For example,

ICT will be provided
according to tikaka Māori.

Skilled ICT people will
be available.

Coming together of the value
knowledge of the older generation and skill of the younger generation will encourage
generation combination and mutual contribution as they participate side-by-side.

The potential benefits
for participants will encourage them to use ICT.

The content and
resource material is from the community, using ICT as a vehicle.

The procedures will be
in place to ensure protection of knowledge ownership, which can be a
significant barrier to use of ICT, particularly for Māori.

The project will
demonstrate a way for ICT to be used to record and convey Māori knowledge.

This paper has described
the development of a framework for representing indigenous knowledge through a
games-based environment. There are a number of powerful outcomes from SimPā.
First, it is bringing together the young and elders of the marae to share and
learn about their history. Second,it gives computer training to young Runuka members.
Third, it gives local maraes an interactive tool to teach people about “their
place.” Finally, it allows members of that Rūnaka from anywhere in
the world to learn about their history and network with their elders and
cousins on the internet. Each GamePā is expected to become a valuable
educational resource, particularly considering the demand for relevant digital
content as schools actively increase their ICT capability. The SimPā
Toolkit, used to create Māori digital content, will also become a resource
of value for other education providers.

It is intended the results
of research associated with this project will be made widely available. The
SimPā project also provides an example of a unique approach of using ICT
for the benefit of indigenous culture. This is relevant not only nationally but
also to the international community. The SimPā project will make learning
environments and Māori narratives relevant to the 21st century.